Monthly Archives: March 2014

We particularly enjoyed the language in South Africa. I’m so impressed that everyone is multi-lingual. I think virtually everyone speaks English and Africaans but most speak at least one native dialect as well.

Even in English, we sometimes needed a translation to understand the meaning of a word or phrase. Here are just a few that we particularly enjoyed.

BOMA: enclosure for protection, where we had a braii

Braii: barbeque

Robot: traffic light

Garage: gas station… and they still fill your tank with gas; no self service here

Biltong: lekker meat jerky that was taken away from us by US Customs when we entered the US

Pap: South African dish very similar to American grits or Italian polenta

Bunny chow: South African dish of curry in a hollowed out bread loaf

Melktert: lekker South African milk tart—yum!

Bobotie: South African dish of minced meat with fruit, covered in an egg custard topping – similar to moussaka

Amarula: a liqueur made from marula, a citrusy fruit enjoyed by elephants and baboons. Liqueur enjoyed by humans.

Nandos: well known (by everyone but me) chain in South Africa for chicken

Phacochere: French word for warthog which I learned from our delightful French family at the lodge. Not South African at all but I love the word and how it sounds.

Thanks to Kim at Vuyani for the South African terms and equivalents and to Anne for French.

Save the Rhino

83% of Africa’s rhinos and 73% of all wild rhinos worldwide are found in South Africa. These beautiful creatures are increasingly threatened due to poachers killing them for their horns to use in traditional Asian medicines. Although China banned the use of rhino horn in traditional medicine, black market sales continue and fuel the poaching crisis. Today, on the black market, the price per gram for rhino horn is higher than the price of gold. In 2007, there were 13 rhino deaths in South Africa due to poaching. Each year that number has increased until 2013 when the number of deaths was 1004. At the current rate of increase, deaths will exceed births by 2018 and the animals will likely become extinct unless we act. When we left South Africa on February 22, we saw the sign below showing 118 deaths to date. For more information and to help, check out Save the Rhino at www.savetherhino.org/.

A Brief Account of the Dung Beetle

Really? Seriously? Yes.

The dung beetle eats elephant dung and the fresher, the better because it’s full of highly nutritious plant material. The beetle also feeds its young with dung. It rolls the dung into a ball and then pushes it using the Milky Way to navigate (I can’t make this stuff up!) to a hole where it lays eggs on top of the dung ball. When the larvae hatch, the young feeds on dung through the larval stage. Obviously, this action benefits the soil by distributing and burying the dung in addition to the benefit to the beetle.

Dung beetle pushing dung ball

This trip to South Africa was definitely what you call “the trip of a lifetime.” For my husband, Jim, it ranks number 1 of all trips to date. We watched the movie, Invictus, again soon after our return. While it was inspiring the first time, it is so much more meaningful after our visit. President Mandela was truly a visionary with a plan to lead his people to a post-apartheid world. The country today has many problems: 25% unemployment, rampant corruption, low wages, and a small tax base to name but a few. But they also have many assets including a beautiful country with many natural resources and great potential, and a diverse culture with warm friendly people who will welcome you to South Africa.

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The bite of a black mamba snake will kill a human in as little as 20 minutes. In fact, they are so deadly that the chances of getting anti-venom in time to prevent death are virtually nil in the bushveld, according to our rangers. Now, I’m not ordinarily afraid of snakes but this startling information definitely got my attention. I went to Africa worried about malaria and spiders but honestly, I hadn’t given snakes a single thought. The stories that followed raised my anxiety even further.

Several weeks earlier, Uyai, our tracker, was looking at tracks on the left side of the vehicle and our ranger, JD, was watching along the right. Neither noticed the black mamba in the middle of the road in front of them. When Uyai did see it, he jumped out of the tracker seat on the front of the vehicle and the black mamba struck the middle of the hood. JD referred to that story as “the time I almost got Uyai killed.” Another story involved a self-important ranger from another lodge who, bragging about his prowess with snakes, picked up a black mamba to show off his skill and was promptly bitten. The ranger died a horrific death within 20 minutes while the guests watched.

After hearing these stories a day or two earlier, imagine our reaction when Uyai nimbly jumped from the tracker seat as JD abruptly halted the safari truck. The birds in the tree about 25 feet ahead of us were letting loose a cacophony of chatter. JD explained, “There’s a black mamba somewhere nearby. The birds are telling us. We’ll move ahead slowly and carefully. Everyone be still and quiet.” I sat frozen in wide-eyed terror as we crept forward under the tree that I was sure held a coiled black mamba, ready to strike as we passed underneath. I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the tree was safely behind us and our guides indicated the danger had passed.

This experience served as an important reminder that we were truly in a wild, untamed place and the outstanding staff at Vuyani were there to protect us as much or more than to educate or entertain us.